92 Sikh pilgrims stopped from boarding flight to India

Amritsar:- At 2:10 a.m. last night, a group of 92 Pakistani Sikh pilgrims was stopped at Faisalabad Airport from boarding a flight to undertake a pilgrimage to India via the Gulf route, citing the non-availability of an NOC (No Objection Certificate).
The Sikh pilgrims, who had gathered late last night at Faisalabad Airport in Pakistan to catch a flight to Sharjah for visiting historic gurdwaras in India, faced difficulties after they were not allowed to board the flight. They were ultimately scheduled to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Hemkunt Sahib in Uttarakhand.
While narrating the entire incident over the phone to Paramjit Singh Chandok, chairman of the Yatra Department of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (DSGMC), jatha leader Papinder Singh said that, as confirmed by the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports, an NOC for a Pakistani passport is required only for employees of government, semi-government or autonomous institutions. Chandok said that ordinary citizens do not require an NOC for obtaining or renewing a passport.
He said that they had valid visas to visit India. After ‘Operation Sindoor’, launched by India in retaliation for the killing of its citizens in the Pahalgam terrorist attack, the two neighbouring countries restricted their airspace to each other, forcing the Sikh jatha to take a flight via the Gulf route to reach India. Earlier, the Pakistan government had allowed Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit gurdwaras in Pakistan. 
Under this arrangement, Sikh pilgrim jathas travelled to Pakistan on the occasion of the Baisakhi festival and subsequently on the martyrdom anniversary of Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji and the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Now, a Sikh pilgrim jatha will also travel to Pakistan in November on the occasion of the Parkash Purab of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. However, the Pakistan government has not allowed Pakistani Sikhs to travel to India.
Chandok said that due to divisions within the Sikh leadership in Pakistan, ordinary Sikhs, elderly people, women and children had to face mental distress, which is linked to political parties such as Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) associated with the family of Nawaz Sharif.
The pilgrims who were scheduled to leave last night for the pilgrimage to India were associated with Bishan Singh, former president of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC). At present, Ramesh Singh Arora is the president of the PSGPC, and he is a supporter of the PML-N.